Janice Solomon  

King Vulture by Janice Solomon

July 2026 - King Vulture

July 2026 - Janice Solomon

Original

About the Image(s)

I took this photo of a king vulture in Costa Rica on a birdwatching tour. We sat in a hide for about 45 minutes and were told that the "key shot" was of a king vulture landing with its wings spread and its feet about to touch down near Boca Tapada. King vultures are about twice as big as the turkey vultures that you can see in the original photo. The tour guide walked around where the vultures were feeding in order to get them to fly away for a little while. The king vultures perched in a nearby tree, and then we waited for them to fly back towards us to the food pit so we could photograph them landing. I cropped out the surrounding turkey vultures to focus attention on the king. I also experimented with blurring the background trees, but it looked very unnatural so I undid it. 1/3200 sec, f/9, ISO 4000. 1 gazillion degrees F and just as humid.

6 comments posted

Julie Deer   Julie Deer
Hi Janice, your efforts have been well rewarded! I enjoyed hearing how the image was taken. The bird seems to be looking directly at you. The colours of the wing are stunning. You certainly have a great shot to be proud of. Perhaps try darkening the bough of leaves in the bottom left. They are lighter than the other leaves and keep asking for attention.   Posted: 07/01/2026 09:25:54
Shari Garnsey   Shari Garnsey
Hi Janice. This is a wonderful capture of the king vulture. I have never seen one before and this one's eyes - and talons - are coming right at us. Your crop has the wingspread creating a prefect frame for the image. Instead of blurring the foliage in the background, you might try just darkening it some. There are some hot spots on the wings, legs and the white spots on the rock that you might try spot burning. Thanks for sharing   Posted: 07/02/2026 14:04:23
Elaine Miller   Elaine Miller
Hi, Janice. What an adventure. I would melt in the heat and humidity, but definitely worthwhile. I agree with Shari's idea of darkening the background and tops of the wings. I might also darken the bottom and desaturate the rock a little.   Posted: 07/03/2026 19:19:02
Comment Image
Andrew Hersom   Andrew Hersom
The King Vulture is positioned just right and looking at the camera. Wow! Some of the white of the feathers looks nearly blown out so could do with darkening. I am a bit confused about the removal of the TV, did you clone it out? Reason I ask is that in Nature Competitions there are limitations on what you can do in post. Great picture though.   Posted: 07/11/2026 13:54:29
Janice Solomon   Janice Solomon
Thanks! Yes, I cloned it out in Lightroom. My camera club allows this for nature photo competitions. But I'll keep that in mind if I ever compete elsewhere.   Posted: 07/13/2026 21:24:41
Don Hill   Don Hill
Hey Janice, Quite an image. I agree with everyone about the blown-out areas. Your timing was right on.   Posted: 07/13/2026 19:56:36

 

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